Disney's Snow White 2025 - What's with the Dwarfs ... oops sorry, the 'Magical Creatures'?

Well, here I am again, writing about another movie that just doesn't hit the mark. Another movie that's gone too woke. Another movie where disabled and different actors should be playing roles but aren't.

 What movie am I speaking about? It's the latest instalment from Disney ... Snow White.

A couple of months ago, a large billboard in my hometown displayed the Snow White movie promo. I got excited. I love Disney films and I'm a sucker for a good fairy tale. I pointed it out to my partner. 'I want to go and see that,' I said, a smile spreading across my face. 
He turned his eyes from the steering wheel. 'I don't think you'll like it.'
My smile vanished. 'Why?'
'Well, for starters, the dwarfs are CGI.'
My eyes opened like UFO flying saucers. 'What?!'
He nodded. 
'No, not again!' A ball of fiery-hot magma immediately formed in my gut. The same feeling from when I heard that Auggie Pullman in Wonder would not be played by a child with a facial difference, and when I heard The Greatest Showman was going to be a musical. Who made musicals about freakshow circuses and men just interested in making money from misfits and people with disabilities and differences?

My outrage continued, but sometimes I can be melodramatic, so I watched the trailer then Googled 'Snow White 2025'  to see what was being said about the movie out there in media land. 

The first article I read was by Sky News: Very surprising reviews roll in for new Snow White adaptation following widespread criticism over 'woke' take on the classic Disney tale | Sky News Australia

If you read it, you'll see Disney spent $264.9 million on the live-action film ... a remake of Snow White. It stars American (Colombian descent) Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Israeli Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. 

'The film has been criticised for prioritising 'wokeness' over authentic storytelling. Fans have noticed traditional romance was dumped for being too 'sexist', and the Seven Dwarfs were now seen as a diverse group of 'magical creatures' of all heights, races and gender,' says Sky News Australia. 

Next, I read: The Anti-Woke Critics Aren’t Completely Wrong About ‘Snow White’ | Thought Catalog

Written by Evan Lambert, he states the five woke elements of the film are:

* Snow White is not fair-skinned with raven black hair

* The CGI non-dwarfs

* Zegler's early criticism of the classic 1937 animated Snow White film

* No true love's kiss 

* Why another remake, Disney?

I kept going, reading the BBC's commentary: Will Snow White be a 'victim of its moment'? How the Disney remake became 2025's most divisive film

In this article, the BBC identifies various issues with the film, from Zegler's political statements to the dwarfs. 

The Forbes article then caught my eye. Did Disney Make The Right Decision About The 7 Dwarfs For ‘Snow White’ Movie?

After reading the Forbes article, I scanned my Google search, and the headlines were all very similar, so I decided to stop there. Basically, the same issues were being identified, and it was obvious that people living with dwarfism were up in arms about the CGI magical creatures ... and there was a whole tribe of general haters. (There were also some people who liked it.)

After taking time for reflection, for I know my thinking can be black and white, and always turned towards the rights of people with disabilities, I've penned some thoughts on Snow White. 

1) Fairy tales are to be used for change ... not be changed
I love fairy tales and am a staunch supporter of leaving fairy tales as the originals. Why? Because I love the nostalgia of them. I love seeing how society was at the time they were made - the good and the ugly. I love the hidden messages fairytales normally have ... the morals and positive values that are dearly needed today. 
Now, I am a realist and agree that they often portray sexism, racism and ableism, which is why Disney is trying to modernise them (though I had never thought of the huntsman as a 'stalker' - quoted by Rachel Zegler). So what to do about these -isms? Instead of erasing these issues, like they never existed in the past, why can't we use fairy tales as vehicles for discussions with our children? Schools do this with literature. Why can't we use them for conversations on society and people and relationships? 

2) Snow White's skin isn't fair 
Now, even though I would have preferred Disney left Snow White with her pearly white skin, I'm a big girl and can cope with the change in skin colour. It's already happened in other films such as The Little Mermaid live action movie 2023. To be honest, I don't agree with it and see this as woke. Why is it filmmakers are trying to eliminate white people from movies? I also wonder what the reasoning behind Snow White's name now is. She was originally named after her fair skin. It was snow white in colour. Maybe now she was named after her snow white teeth (which babies don't have) or she was born in the snow (rather silly suggestions).

3) The seven dwarfs have been called magical creatures 
When I watched the trailer, the dwarfs did not look like magical creatures to me. They looked like a modern-day take on the original animated dwarfs. In the Forbes article, I read that the magical creatures are called Bashful, Doc, Sneezy etc. These are the original dwarf names. 

So what's happened here? According to what I've read, a little person named Peter Dinklage, complained about the 1937 film as being, 'a backwards story of seven dwarfs living in a cave together.' So Disney, wanting to distance itself from this stereotype, used CGI and called the dwarfs magical creatures. But in taking this route, maybe without really thinking it through, or speaking to little people about the impact the film would have, they have angered a whole heap of people. Me included. 

Why are people up in arms about the CGI magical creatures?

I think it's pretty apparent, but by taking this route in Snow White, there are seven actors with dwarfism who missed out on playing a part and being seen on screen. They missed out on career opportunities. In Did Disney Make The Right Decision About The 7 Dwarfs For ‘Snow White’ Movie? pro wrestler Hornswoggle said, 'roles for people within the community are few and far between already, and Disney's decision to take away 'dream roles literally made for our community' ultimately hurt the community.'

Second, it can be seen as discrimination. In another BBC article, Snow White: Disney holds small-scale European premiere amid controversy, performer Choon Tan said the decision to use CGI was, 'absolutely absurd and discriminating in a sense. There really is nothing wrong casting someone with dwarfism as a dwarf in any given opportunity. As long as we are treated equally and with respect, we're usually more than happy to take on any acting roles that are suitable for us.'

Here is Zach Roloff's take on the use of the CGI magical creatures:

In my opinion, as well as the loss of employment for people living with dwarfism, this is such a missed opportunity for Disney to make a positive impact on the world. Disney has so much power and influence and like Zach says in the video, it's like they are erasing dwarfism ... sending them back into the Greatest Showman era. Bring dwarfism into the light - show the diversity and differences in our human race. Disney's missed the opportunity here to show children that living with dwarfism is nothing special or something to be scared of - it's just another way people are different. And Snow White could have been a conduit for making the world a better place for people living with dwarfism. So, children don't stop, stare and point when they see a little person. When people in pubs don't stay dumb stuff that's downright offensive.

Oh, Disney, I've loved your movies since I was a toddler, but where are you going now? We need movies showing diversity and we need movies with disabled actors. How about you create a new fairy tale instead of rehashing the old?

Be Weirdly Wonderful! Embrace your differences

www.jennywoolsey.com

Facebook - jennywoolseyauthor

Insta - jennywoolseyauthor

©Jenny Woolsey 2025

How to stop racism and discrimination - Herman Munster's Wise Advice

At the moment there are race riots occurring across the world. The death of George Floyd in the US at the hands of a policeman has brought to the fore the history of racism and discrimination. In Australia our indigenous people are using this incident as an opportunity to bring to the fore the unnecessary deaths of their people in police custody. 

I wrote in my last blog how much I loved the Munsters and particularly Herman when I was growing up. No I wasn't a person of colour, but I was a person with a visible difference. I was born with a rare craniofacial syndrome, Crouzon syndrome. This made me stand out. This mutation in my genes, completely out of my control, meant many in society chose to not like me and let me and my family know. I experienced bullying, discrimination and prejudice. 

Over fifty years has passed since I was born and people are still not being treated equally. Today people still aren't allowed to have differences. We are all meant to fit in a couple of boxes and be content there. If we should be born with a visible difference, such as the colour of our skin or a disability, then our lot in life is to be treated as more unworthy and to suffer from judgements and discrimination.

I want to share with you this clip showing the wise words of  Herman Munster:

Do you love it as much as I do?

The lesson I want you to learn is it doesn't matter what you look like. 

You can be tall or short, or fat or thin, ugly or handsome like your father, 

or you can be black or yellow or white, it doesn't matter. 

What does matter is the size of your heart and the strength of your character. 

When you look at someone who you see as outwardly different, remember these wise words of Herman Munster. And if you are on the receiving end of bullying or racism or discrimination because you look different or act differently, then you too remember the wise words of Herman Munster. It's all about the size of your heart and the strength of your character. 

You must stay true to who you are. You must embrace your differences and rise above the haters. You were born the way you are for a purpose. Don't let the negative people in society stop you from achieving your greatness!

Please comment on my blog posts and share them, and subscribe to it. Find more about me at 

www.jennywoolsey.com

How to look after your mental health - 12 Lessons from Herman Munster

When I was a child growing up with a craniofacial syndrome, it was incredibly hard. I was stared at, made fun of, pushed over and isolated. Home was my sanctuary where I was accepted and loved, and had those typical fights with my brothers. You could say it was 'normal'. A show that I loved was Munsters, and I have been watching reruns on TV and clips on YouTube to try to understand why. I was called Frankenstein and Herman was Frankenstein so why would I love the show so much when he looks the way he does? 

I quickly found the answers. Herman had heaps of great messages for me. He saw himself as the 'normal' one and the outsiders were the freaks. Marilyn was the one who didn't fit in, and she also saw herself as the 'freak' in the family. This whole flipped concept would have really helped me to cope with the nastiness of the world.

I found this YouTube video which is entitled 12 Life Lessons from Herman Munster and I love it so much that I wanted to share it here in my blog. Have a watch and tell me what you think.

I am going to list  Herman's 12 Life Lessons here:

12. Let your light shine - Bring a little happiness to others

11. Commune with nature - Go out in nature - it's good for you

10. Heroes are Zeroes - Lots of heroes are vain and good for nothings

9. Start that college 529  - Begin a savings bank account when your children are young

8. Catch more flies with honey - You'll get further with love and affection and understanding

7. Stay flea free  - Don't go with bad companions. He who lies down with dog, gets up with fleas

6. Serve and protect  - It's the duty of every citizen to protect the police

5. Respect the produce  - In the vegetable garden of life don't pinch the tomatoes

4. Target Marketing 101  - Don't start scratching until you know where the fleas are biting

3. Pay it forward  - Help people to succeed

2. Be kind - When we put kindness in we get kindness back - it's like putting money in the bank with interest

1. What matters most - It doesn't matter what you look like. What matters is the size of your heart and the strength of your character. 

Do you agree with me? The script writers were way ahead of their time. In the 1960s racism, hiding disabled children away in institutions, putting people who were considered too different in freak shows was rife. Basically if you weren't a neurotypical white middle class person you weren't a worthy citizen.

As a society we still have a long way to go as progress has been at a snail's pace. These life lessons are still relevant today and will improve our mental and make for a more inclusive society!

Please like, share and subscribe to me. I want everyone to Be Weirdly Wonderful! I date you to embrace your differences.

www.jennywoolsey.com

Don't Limit Me - A Poem

Don't Limit Me

I am not broken like a smashed car, so you don't need to fix me...
Don't limit me
I am not a retard or an idiot or stupid or any other insult you throw at me...
Don't limit me
I can learn when taught so I understand, and I will exceed your expectations...
Don't limit me

I am not a label like on a jam jar, I am multi-faceted like a diamond...
Don't limit me
I am not the sum set of my chromosomes - no that is way too narrow...
Don't limit me
If you have met one person with my syndrome, you have met one person with my syndrome...
Don't limit me
 
I will teach you about your limiting beliefs which aren't mine...
Learn from me

I am not an archaic view of disability - I will not be hidden away or segregated...
Don't limit me
I am not your inspirational porn - don't cry and say I'm amazing because I am doing well...
Don't limit me
I can think for myself and tell you what I want - and that's to be in control of my life...
Don't limit me

If you expect and accept little from me, that's exactly what I'll give you...
Don't limit me
If you speak negatively to me, be aware it will be returned through my behaviour or words...
Don't limit me
If you shove me to the side or isolate me, I know what that means - you don't value me...
Don't limit me 

I will show you your limiting beliefs if that's what you ask for...
Learn from me

Give me wings to fly and I will soar high and free like eagles do on wind currents...
Don't limit me
Build up my strengths and talents so I can reach my full potential...
Don't limit me
Accept me as I am but have high expectations that I will learn and grow and be successful...
Don't limit me

And while you're rethinking your prejudices, know that I am perfect just as I am, and if you take the time to get to know me, you will find that out.


- by Jenny Woolsey ©2019
Mum to Jessica who has Down syndrome

To learn more about Jenny visit www.jennywoolsey.com

The Generational Pursuit of an Ordinary Life - Crouzon and Down syndrome

On Monday I presented a talk to a local Probus Club about my parents' plight for me to have an ordinary life growing up. You see I was born with a rare craniofacial condition, Crouzon syndrome. That's me in the photo above. No one else in my family had the syndrome and Mum and Dad knew no one with it. Statistically the incidence of being born with the syndrome at the time, was 1 in 250,000 so why would they?

My parents were told by many in society that I wasn't valuable and should be hidden away, just because I looked different. At that time institutions for the disabled were in full swing, and freak shows were still in existence in the UK and America. My forward thinking parents ignored this prejudice, and actively fought against it. It was far from easy for them but they loved me and had a vision that I would have an ordinary life like my two brothers. My life could have been well different and much less successful and happier, if my parents had caved into the pressure that was exerted on them.

The second part of my talk to the Probus Club centred on my own plight to fight the prejudices that I have faced with one of my daughters. You see, my youngest was born with Down syndrome.

I started at the beginning of my story which is where most stories start. I shared that I had a very strong negative reaction when I was told my daughter had Down syndrome. She was 4 weeks old and the geneticist bluntly delivered the news with a question, 'Why didn't you know you were bringing me a Downs baby?' Well upon posing this question to my pediatrician, it seemed she wasn't sure due to my craniofacial syndrome and passed the buck to the geneticist.

The geneticist's kind, caring (sarcasm) delivery sent a chill down my spine. I had seen my daughter's oblique shaped eyes at birth but had pushed them aside as nothing had been said. Those eyes flashed before me as I digested the acid-tongued news.

This information about my daughter wasn't what I wanted to hear. I walked out of that office as if I was a zombie leaving a grave. The agony was cemented by a phone call the next day confirming she did have Down syndrome, and it was the most common type - Trisomy 21. In Trisomy 21, there are three copies of the 21st chromosome, instead of two, in every cell of the body. According to Google, that was also the worst type to have.

My world was shattered. But why? I didn't know anybody with Down syndrome, so why was I shattered? What was behind that reaction? Why wasn't I happy? Why wasn't I going, 'That's okay. She'll be awesome!'

I think I can answer that in one sentence... Society told me Down syndrome was a terrible thing for my child to be born with. 

At every previous scan, for all of my pregnancies, the sonographer performing the scan had meticulously looked for, measured for, and I'd had blood extracted to test for... Down syndrome. We had also been asked on each occasion if we wanted to have an amniocentesis to test for Down syndrome. Why would they do all these things, (and offer abortions up until birth as has happened with friends), if this wasn't going to be a life sentence? Anyone would think that Down syndrome was equivalent to being a mass murderer!

I am sure you can understand my reaction. Most humans would feel something negative inside, with this scaremongering. But the thing is I totally adored my baby before this 'label' was put on her.

People's reactions to my news weren't generally helpful either. 'I'm sorry,' was the standard reply, or if they were trying to be positive they would say, 'People with Down syndrome are always so loving and happy!'

Fortunately, I did come to my senses pretty quickly because the love I had for my daughter shone more brightly than the label.

Did you know that a large number of babies with Down syndrome are placed into foster care because their parents do not want to take the journey I was going to take?

In the past few years I have been researching and learning about the history of disability. I now know why I was rejected by society as a youngster, and it is the same reason people with Down syndrome still are being rejected - and aborted. They are seen as a lesser form of human being. They are seen as being imperfect. They are seen as Hitler saw the Jews - an inferior race.

You would think that in present-day 2019 we would have progressed a lot further in our acceptance of differences. But sadly we have not. As I explained to the Probus Club members, while women are still striving for equal pay and racism is rife, people with disabilities will not get a look in.

Yes, there has been some progress made. Like my parents were pioneers paving the way for me and others with facial differences, there are parents today making paths for their children with disabilities. Some of us have our bulldozers out and are pushing hard on the weeds and rocks.

Target has become inclusive in its use of child models. When you flip through the pages of its catalogues and look at the advertising in its stores you will see children with Down sydrome and other disabilities. I commend Target for this.

http://www.startingwithjulius.org.au/target-award-winning-adinclusion/

Our world is a better place for having a kaleidoscope of humanity.

Another fact I shared with the members was the alarming rate of terminations of prenatally diagnosed fetuses (I call them babies). In Australia, the statistics say that 9 out of 10 prenatally diagnosed babies with Down syndrome are aborted. The article below states it is 93%. This includes the false-positives. Killed. Australia should be hanging its head in shame.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2017/08/17/down-syndrome-birth-terminations/

After the meeting, one of the members came to me and told me his daughter's story. She'd been told prenatally that her baby had Down syndrome. She was offered a termination but declined it. When the baby girl was born, she did not have Down syndrome.

In Iceland, it is 10 out of 10. Iceland is trying to eradicate people with Down sydrome from their society.

This makes my blood boil. Who gives these doctors the right to play God?

Down syndrome used to be considered a common condition, now it is listed on the Rare Diseases database.

As a human race, our desire for perfection seems to sit high on the scale of what's important. What happened to love?

I will continue to fight for my daughter and the other wonderful human beings who are born with Down syndrome. There has always been people with this syndrome, and as long as there are parents who will give them life and are willing to go in for battle for their children, there always will be.

These people offer their own take on the world and are able to make significant contributions to society. They are perfectly perfect.

My daughter is now 12 and we keep hearing the words, 'She's so amazing!' I must admit I get sick and tired of this, but I know we have a very different perception of what she is capable of. There are no limiting ceilings in our definition of Down syndrome. And her 'amaziness' is ordinariness. She is in mainstream high school, participating in regular school and community activities, and breaking down attitudes and prejudices of those around her.

One day I know I will see her living her own independent life, with a fully paid job, a partner if she wants one, going out and about pursuing her interests. I will see her having an ordinary adulthood just like my parents gave me.

To find out more about Jenny Woolsey who writes and speaks on Be Weirdly Wonderful! Embrace your difference, go to www.jennywoolsey.com

I Salute General Charles De Gaulle, a Proud Father of a Child with Down Syndrome

 I Salute General Charles De Gaulle, a Proud Father of a Child with Down Syndrome

In 1866 British physician, John Langdon Down, named Down syndrome. While working as the medical superintendent at the Royal Earlswood Asylum he described the characteristics of people with Down syndrome residng there, as being similar to the people living in Mongolia (he had a series of ethnic race photos he compared them to). He believed people with Down syndrome were a result of ethnic degeneration. The term 'Mongolian idiocy, Mongoloids and Mongolism' became the norm. It wsn't until the 1960s Down's theory of Mongolian origin was discounted. This was after the French Pediatrician/Geneticist Professor Jerome Lejeune discovered that people with Down syndrome had an extra chromosome - three of chromosome #21, and the syndrome was observed across many ethnicities. The term Down syndrome and Trisomy 21 then became the accepted terms. 

During the first half of the twentieth century, the majority of children with Down syndrome were placed in institutions like the one above  – frequently soon after birth. The parents were convinced by doctors that the child was less than human and their needs would be so great, their families would not be able to raise them. The parents were told that the child would be taken good care of. These children were “warehoused” in large state institutions – often in deplorable conditions – locked away so that the rest of society could not see the horror of their lives.

As a parent of a child with Down syndrome, when I read this history, blood boils in my veins, and when I hear stories of parents who bucked the system and stood strong, I rejoice. Today, in 2019, there are still many barriers and prejudices, towards people with Down syndrome. I have battled them and will continue to I am sure. I refer to low expectations, being excluded and segregated, 'she's so amazing' comments when my daughter is doing what other regular children are doing, 'inspirationnal' posts about adults with DS doing ordinary things such as working and so on. 

Thankfully there were parents throughout history who refused to give their children to institutions and chose to raise them as ordinary children and give them ordinary inclusive lives. Let me tell you about one such set of parents, General Charles De Gaulle and his wife Yvonne.

General Charles De Gaulle has been well known throughout modern history as the leader of the Free French Forces. Something less well-known was that his youngest daughter Anne (January 1, 1928 - February 6, 1948) had Down syndrome.

The public perception at the time, was Down syndrome occurred because of the parents' alcoholism, venereal disease or from ethnic degeneration as I talked about above. The De Gaulles rejected these fallacies, and refused to put her in an institution, instead choosing to raise Anne like their other two children at home.

It has been said often that Anne was Charles' favourite child and he called her, 'My joy'. Charles was described as a man who ranged from cocky to stoic by nature, but a loving happy father, who would read stories and sing songs to Anne. It is said that he showed Anne an affection that he rarely showed others, even those in his own household. Anne was raised to feel no less or different than anyone else. (I love this!)

Charles always carried a photo of Anne with him, and in 1962 the photo stopped a bullet from ending his life in an assassination attempt.

In 1948, Anne succumbed to pneumonia, a month after her 20th birthday and died in her father's arms. Upon her death, Charles is said to have remarked 'Maintenant, elle est comme les autres.' ('Now, she is like the others.'). When Charles died, he was buried beside his beautiful daughter.

***

I had goosebumps when I first read this story, because I know how hard it would have been for the family to raise Anne with society's prejudices.

Stories like this one inspire and motivate me to continue advocating for people with Down syndrome and to show society that these people are valued, worthy and deserve to have ordinary regular lives like everyone else does. And it is an ordinay regular life, full of love, that I am striving to give my daughter, 'My joy'. Thank you, Charles and Yvonne De Gualles for all that you did for Anne and for future generations.


Jenny Woolsey is an author and speaker on embracing difference, and can be contacted at jenny@jennywoolsey.com or at www.jennywoolsey.com

Obstacles

O is for Obstacles

Obstacles, you know, those invisible and invisible road blocks or barriers that hold us back or pose us challenges. They cause us stress, and could even cost us financially or take a toll on our health and well being.

Some examples of obstacles are:

• financial
• health/body related
• time 
• distractions
• conflict
• physical objects
• environmental factors
• fear
• perfectionism
• lack of patience
• lack of focus
• anxiety
• lack of education/knowledge

You get the idea I am sure and probably can think of more.

Have you noticed that some people seem to have more obstacles than others, but everyone experiences them? Can you think of someone who has experienced a large obstacle and can you think of someone who experienced lots of smaller obstacles? I am sure you can. Maybe one of those people is you.

While you're thinking about the obstacles, I want you to turn your mind to how these people reacted to their obstacles and how they dealt with them? If one of the people is you, how did you react and how did you deal with the situation?

Let's say I have a friend, Sarah. She really wants a promotion to help pay off her mortgage but she's put in a couple of applications for vacancies in her department but has not received them. The feelings of rejection have been really hard for her to cope with and she's sick of seeing her more flamboyant colleagues getting more than what she thinks she deserves. Sarah's just found out she missed out on another position she applied for within her department which has added another arrow into her heart, but she's also just been told by a colleague that there is an opening in another department. She is anxious at the thought of moving from her department as she is comfortable there, and she thinks she'll probably receive another rejection which she thinks would send her over the edge of her sanity. What do you think she does?

In this scenario, the obstacle is a combination of not getting promotions, a low self-esteem and anxiety caused by rejection, and a feeling of comfort in her current workplace.

What do you think she does?

Sarah has a couple of options. One, she could stay in her job which she isn't satisfied with and won't help her accomplish her goal of paying off the mortgage more quickly. If you look at the diagram above, that would be sitting in the red spot, her comfort zone. Or second, she could apply for the new job but to do that she would have to pass through the fear zone. These are the obvious two choices she has, but if we think about it, there are probably other things Sarah could do as well. What about approaching the head of her department and having a chat with them to find out why she isn't being promoted, and if it involves personal development or professional development, then she could work on those things. She could go and study something which would improve her chances. She could work on her feelings of rejection and developing her resilience. She could start looking for other jobs while she is in the job she is doing. In the diagram above, these would be in the learning zone.

So many people stay trapped in their red comfort zone. I admit I was one of those. Suffering from anxiety and a low self-esteem I stayed in my safety box. I went for promotions but didn't get them. After getting the 'we've chosen someone else', I'd feel frustrated and rejected and my self-esteem would take a plummet, and I'd crawl back into my safety box. I didn't grow much and my mind stayed fixed. If I even thought about moving from my job to a different one in another place, severe fear and anxiety would envelope me. The psychologist Dweck, calls this a fixed mindset.

Have a watch of these videos:

The above comfort zone diagram and Dweck talk about a growth mindset. I can now proudly say that I have one of those. Since leaving my comfort zone, forced out by severe anxiety and depression, I have been challenging myself and kicking down the obstacles, or finding a way around them. I am not avoiding them, or letting other people solve them for me. Whether these obstacles are mental and psychological ones due to my anxiety and depression, or physical ones due to my visual impairment, I am facing them head on. I have been on a journey to becoming the best version of myself, free of the fears that held me hostage.

If we look at the Growth Zone, you can see it says that if you are in that zone, you have a purpose, you are out living your dreams, you have new goals and you are conquering objectives. I can fully identify with that, as now instead of not doing things because of my obstacles, I am problem-solving, and finding ways to go and do them. If things go wrong, I am trying to stay calm and make rational decisions. It hasn't been easy but each time I achieve something new, I have grown and it has shown me that I can do whatever I put my mind to. There is so much freedom outside of your comfort zone and fixed mindset!

Can you relate?

Which zone or which mindset do you have? Are you stuck in your comfort zone cage or have a fixed mindset? Or are you in the learning zone or the ultimate growth zone?

There are different ways you can approach an obstacle to overcome it. Have a read of this blog post by Jeffrey I. Moore which I found quite helpful:

7 Proven Ways to Overcoming Obstacles

I have my own three tips for you to attack, knock down and overcome your obstacles. They are:

1. Keep calm. When you suffer with anxiety as I do, the first reaction can be a rise in adrenalin in your body causing a thumping heart, sweating and a spinning head, or a panic attack. These reactions are the opposite of calm. What I've needed to do is to stop and stand still, take some deep breaths, do some self-talk and pray. It is impossible to make a rational decision when your brain and body is not in a calm state.  
2. Ask for help. I hate asking for help as I have social anxiety. But I've learnt that if I want to save myself more stress, than it is what I need to do when I am encountering obstacles. Whether it is ringing someone, asking someone, or calling a company who can help you, it's good to ask for help. And I've found most people are more than happy to help you.
3. Plan and do. So you need to make a decision about what you are going to do. Sometimes you may need to do some research first before you can plan.. You may need to talk to someone. You may need to backtrack. But if you are going to overcome an, decisions have to be made and a plan of attack worked out. Once you have made your plan you then need to act upon it. Don't let fear stop you. You can do it!

I want to leave you with a challenge. I'd like you to try and do one thing that challenges you psychologically or physically in the next week. Let me know what it is and how you go. Write a comment below or email me at jenny@jennywoolsey.com

Negativity

N is for Negativity

It is so easy to be negative...

• I will never get that job promotion.
• I am not pretty.
• I am not good enough to date that person.
• The rain is going to ruin our special day.
• I hate maths.

Can you identify with any of these? I sure can. 

But what does negativity achieve? Research shows that a negative attitude can create chronic stress, which upsets the body's hormone balance, depletes the brain chemicals required for happiness, and damages the immune system. The person's lifespan can also decrease

Doesn't sound good does it?!

The opposite to negativity is positivity. So what does positivity achieve? The Mayo Clinic has found that positive thinking reduces the risk of cardiovascular related deaths, it creates less depression and leads to an increased lifespan. Positive thinkers cope better with stress and have a stronger immunity, 

This sounds much better!

So how do we keep our thoughts positive as we go about our day-to-day life, dealing with the ups and downs and stressors.

How can we turn negative thinking into positive thinking?

 .

In my upcoming book I give strategies to encourage positivity in our lives. Let's look at some of them.


1) Have Positive Self-talk

Think about what you see when you look at yourself in the mirror. What do you tell yourself about your body and your character and things that are going on in your life? Are you constantly picking yourself apart? Are you never good enough? Do you tell yourself that you don't deserve happiness? Do you not go for promotions because you don't think you'll get them? The more you say negative things to yourself, the lower your self-esteem sinks, the more likely you are to feel depressed, and you will quickly put up with mediocrity.


If your self-talk is constantly negative, you need to think seriously about changing it. Each day is a blessing and you were put on this earth of a reason.


Start the day with something good about yourself. I came across a meme with five things you should tell yourself each day which I like. This would be great pinned to your mirror. They are:

a.      Today will be my day.

b.      I am the best me there is.

c.       I know that I’m a winner.

d.      I can do it. I know I can.

e.      God will always be with me.


Your day is already going to be more positive by doing this. Continue these positive affirmations throughout the day, and when something happens that threatens to make you think negatively, reframe it...


2) Reframe Your Negative Experiences

Negative experiences are painful. That’s a fact and it’s easy to try and bury them. But if we suppress them when they need to be expressed, they will leak out elsewhere and we will inevidently dump them on innocent people e.g. our husband or wife when we get home, or the driver of the car that cuts in front of us.



I’ve found some self-reflection questions that may be able to help you. At least give them a go! But before you ask yourself these questions it is good to take a deep breath and try to distance your emotion. Our emotions often cloud our logical and honest mind so the calmer and indifferent we are while we’re thinking, the better.

Ask yourself when you've had a negative experience:

1.     What went wrong?
2.     What is really at stake?
3.     What can I learn from this to do differently next time?
4.     Has this experience taught me a lesson? Maybe to be kinder, more generous, wiser, stronger or even that I need to keep on trying and practising so I get better.

If it is failure that is the negative experience then it’s always good to remember that professional sportsmen and musicians need to continually practice. They do hours and hours of swimming laps, or hitting tennis balls or golf balls or tackling etc. So why do we think that everything should come easily to us? Challenge those negative thoughts. Change, ‘I can’t’ to ‘I’m going to give it my best shot.’ And if I do fail, I will get back up and try again.’ It we’re afraid of failure we will never try anything new.



Now I must add here that if you are feeling in a really bad place with your thoughts and can’t see a light, reach out for help. Talk to someone, including your doctor, and surround yourself with positive people and posters. 



3) Don't sweat the small stuff

I heard this saying quite a few years ago and it is something I do. I personally think the small stuff are those every day irritants that can ruffle our feathers and make us angry. Things like:


    ·         We spill the milk all over the floor
    ·         We are stuck in traffic or are cut off in traffic
    ·         Someone takes our parking spot
    ·         Our children are running late for school
    ·         The cat wees on the towels
    ·         We break a favourite plate.

How often do we get angry over a traffic light staying red for a long time, or upset because we burn the dinner, or can't find a matching pair of socks? So many instances of road rage are because people are impatient and can’t control themselves when they are impositioned by another road user. You get the idea. These inconveniences can get under our skin so to speak, but in the scheme of life they are not worth wasting our emotions over. How much better would it be if we put these things in perspective? How about a red light giving us more time to sing?



4) Learn from failure 

I mentioned failure briefly above. Failure can be ego-destroying, it can make us feel stupid or of no worth, and it can change the direction of our life – in a positive or negative way. When we do fail, there are some strategies we can try to maintain a positive attitude.


a. Be Open

Even though most of us hate failure, it is okay to fail. Failure can actually give us valuable lessons from the process. It can educate us. I was watching the morning TV and Boy George was being interviewed about being on The Voice, a singing talent show. He said that failure is education, and I totally agree with him. (I knew it wasn’t just Boy George being different that drew me to him as a teenager!) We can gain wisdom and grow in resilience. It can lead us to change directions in life. This may even lead us to a better place.


b. Welcome failure

Instead of being scared of failure maybe we should turn our attitudes around. If we didn’t fail, how would we ever experience the self-satisfaction and joy of succeeding?

When we fail, we learn. Sometimes we learn what not to do again (like failing in Senior Chemistry showed me I wasn’t going to be a physiotherapist and I should let it go!), and on the other hand we learn what we need to do. We grow and we achieve new understandings. 


c. It helps to make priorities in life

When we fail, as a teenager or an adult, we start to question what we really want in life and if the dreams we have for our future are achievable. Maybe we decide that we need to work harder, or maybe to change directions and try something new. Failure forces us to look at ourselves and think about or identify the things that really matter to us and the things that we value.


d. You can rewrite your goals

If we have a goal and we don’t succeed at it, we can change the goal. Maybe we could make the goal simpler, go a step backwards, or even give ourself a longer period of time. This rewriting of our goals allows us to gain more perspective. We can always say we’re still on the way to success. It’s just a setback.


Relating to my failure of chemistry, my goal changed from wanting to be a physio to either a journalist or teacher.


e. Others have failed too

When I was a teenager and young adult, failure cut me hard. I was a perfectionist and perfectionists don’t fail. Ha! Then as an adult I started to hear stories of people who have had setbacks, or failures, but went on to succeed in that particular area or another.


We all know the story of JK Rowling and the rise of her Harry Potter series. She was rejected by 12 publishers before one said yes. The rest is history.


Henry Ford’s first two companies failed. The first one went bankrupt. And the second one he had to walk away from with only the rights to his name after a big dispute. But it was his third try that really sealed the deal. He was so passionate about his mission that he refused to give up.


Bill Gates suffered failure in his first business but this didn’t discourage him from trying again. He didn’t give up because the sheer notion of business intrigued him. The next company as we all know was Microsoft.


What I came to realize was that many people in history, and around me, have failed numerous times before succeeding. It comes with being human.


f. You begin to look at obstacles differently

With those stories above, I noticed something. All of these people did not throw in the towel after their first setback, or failure. They continued on. Why? Because they were passionate about what it was they wanted, and they grew more determined to see it happen. This is something to think about.


I had a tough first year of teaching. It was a shock coming to the suburbs from a large country town. I’d never had to deal with very naughty children. I struggled with shyness, lack of self-confidence and first year nerves. I worked cooperatively with a colleague but it didn’t work out. I didn’t feel supported by the principal who I felt didn’t like me and made my life difficult. In the end she failed me on my probationary period and I was absolutely devastated. I thought I was a good teacher and the other teachers said so too. The principal told me that I should resign and do a different job. I didn’t want to do something else. I really liked teaching even though it was hard. That principal left and another one transferred in. The new principal liked me and took me under her wing. She believed in me as I had self-belief. She built up my self-confidence which had been totally destroyed and I passed my probationary period the following year. I then went on to teach and nurture hundreds of children.

So to finish, I have an challenge for you. Are you up for it?

I would you to think of 3 negative thoughts you've had lately and I want you to reframe them into positive ones. (And I don't want i am positive that I am going to fail this!)

Let me know how you go.
My email is jenny@jennywoolsey.com  or leave a comment below.

 

Visit Jenny at www.jennywoolsey.com

Misfits Shine!

M is for Misfits Shine!

Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in?

That no matter what you’ve done to try and be one of the popular kids, it hasn’t worked?

Have you ever felt like a freak or a weirdo?

Do you sit alone at lunch, or you hide in the library.

Do you walk around with your head down, hoping that no one will notice you or pick on you?

What if I told you… this is great?

Why? Because these people – the “outcasts” or “weirdos”, are the ones who are remembered and often go on to achieve great things in life that the other kids don’t.

Lady GaGa, Freddie Mercury, Billie Eilish what do they have in common – yes they all sing. But there is something about them that makes them stand out from others. Whether it is Lady GaGa’s clothes, Freddie Mercury’s unusual face with his overbite, to Billie Eilish’s ghoulish video where ink runs from her eyes. You could say they are all weird in some way.

So, where am I going with this?

Research tells us that suddenly seeing a weird person activates the release of a motivation chemical called Dopamine in our brain. If we have not seen someone like this before our brain identifies it as new information and it is stored in our long-term memory.   

I was born a freak, a weirdo, ‘a deformity’. You see one gene in my DNA decided to change itself, much like an orange becoming a lemon. This change made a dramatic effect. An orange and a lemon are both citrus fruit but they look different don’t they? This cellular change meant my skull and face didn’t develop properly.

Let me briefly  set the picture for you. My skull was too small; my eyes were too big - bulgy, like frogs; my cheekbones flat so basically non-existent, and my lower jaw stuck out like a bull bar. Even my own mother said I was ugly.

And at school I copped names - ‘Googly eyes’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Elephant Man’. I was physically hurt and rejected… Outside of school, wherever I went, I was stared out, pointed at, laughed at and made fun of.

In high school we had to old time dancing, and when the PE teacher would say, ‘Gentlemen, choose your partner,’ I would sit there staring at my not-so-secret crush willing him to come to me. I remembered this one occasion when he walked towards me and I was like, ‘Yes he’s going to choose me.’ My heart thumped with excitement. And you know what happened? He stopped at the girl beside me and asked her. My heart broke in that moment.

Now each time it was boy’s choice, I was last or second last, to be left on the chairs. I was covered in Impulse, so it couldn’t be BO, so it had to be my face. And as I progressed around the circle some of the boys would try not to touch me, like this.

I couldn’t fix my face. If I could have been a clown, I would have. At least they got to paint white make up on their face and act out to be laughed out. I got laughed at, and pointed at, for being myself.

Even after I had my face ripped apart by a surgeon and put back together with pieces of rib and hip bone, I still got picked on. 

Are you hearing me?

For my fellow outcasts, I’m going to leave you with something for each letter of the word WEIRDO:

Work hard (at being the best version of yourself you can be. Shower, wear deodorant, brush your hair, go to class, and do your schoolwork). 

Educate others and don’t be ashamed of yourself (If you have a disability explain it to others. For example, Billy Eilish was trolled for her tics, so she came out and told people she has Tourettes.) 

Ignore and block the haters (not everyone will like you, so don’t give them the time of day or your emotions) and don’t compare yourself to others. You are unique. A limited edition.

Reach out. You are worthy and you are valuable. And if you need help, ask someone to help you. A teacher, a parent, a doctor, a friend. If they don’t help you, ask someone else. 

Develop your gifts, talents, passions and interests. They will help you to find friends, have fun and put you in good stead for life after school. 

AND FINALLY…

Own your uniqueness. Be proud of yourself, your achievements, and the inner determination you have, to get up each day, to face the world. 

Find out more about Misfits Shine! at www.jennywoolsey.com